#Richard and Linda Thompson

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #297 - Richard And Linda Thompson, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, 1974

Nel 1972, quando abbandona i leggendari Fairport Convention, gruppo cardine della rivoluzione del folk sulla via della sua elettrificazione, ha poco più che venti anni. E già allora era unanimemente considerato un talento prodigio e cristallino. Abbandona un gruppo popolarissimo e autore di dischi capolavoro per seguire la sua visione di musica, una nuova via britannica al folk, che mescoli insieme il rock'n'roll con le cantate popolari dei secoli precedenti, strumenti ad arco con la sua fidata chitarra elettrica, dulcimer e fisarmoniche. Nello stesso anno pubblica il primo tentativo, Richard Thompson Starring As Henry The Human Fly, dove è aiutato da un pezzo dei Fairport (la voce inarrivabile di Sandy Denny e il basso-guida di Ashley Hutchings) dove sperimenta questo mix che è ancora acerbo, come la sua voce (nei Fairport non era il cantante principale) ma che ha le prime canzoni gioiello (The Angels Took My Racehorse Away, che stilla britishness in ogni nota) e le prime grandiosi ballate (The Poor Ditching Boy o l'altrettanto bella The Old Changing Way). Tra le coriste c'è una giovane cantante, con pochissima esperienza, Linda Peters: diventerà in pochi mesi la moglia di Richard e tutto è pronto per il primo disco da duo. Le premesse tuttavia non sono rosee per questo lavoro. Il precedente fu un mezzo fiasco commerciale e solo i buoni rapporti di Thompson con il boss della Island, Chris Blackwell, permisero la pubblicazione del lavoro. Che infatti fu registrato in pochissime sedute ai Sound Techniques studio nel quartiere di Chelsea a Londra, con l'aiuto dell'ingegnere del suono e comproprietario John Wood, per si dice un paio di migliaia di sterline per un paio di settimane nel Maggio 1973. Forse anche per questo il disco, che ha una sua aura tutta particolare, è dark e malinconico, ma di un fascino incredibile, che all'epoca fu del tutto ignorato (tanto che il disco fu pubblicato fuori dalla Gran Bretagna soltanto nel 1983, in uno dei picchi di fama di Richard e Linda) e da allora è considerato uno dei capolavori del folk rock britannico.

Linda ha una voce sorprendente e si lega magnificamente, in una sorta di incrocio fuoco e ghiacco, con quella ruvida e bassa di Richard. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight esce nell'Aprile del 1974, dopo quasi un anno dalle sessioni con Wood. le canzoni che lo compongono sono meravigliosamente dolenti, disegnando i contorni di una umanità stanca e disillusa, sofferente, quasi senza speranza. Si passa da ballate elettriche che sanguinano sofferenza come la spettacolare Calvary Cross, o l'altrettanto dolente When I Get To The Border, elegia di chi sta scappando dal brutto del mondo (A one way ticket's in my hand\Heading for the chosen land\My troubles will all turn to sand\When I get to the border). Sono canzone che parlano di alcool, come Down Where The Drunkards Roll, rifugio per lo stordimento. In Linda Thompson, Richard ha trovato una collaboratrice eccezionale e una cantante di livello mondiale; Linda possedeva una voce chiara e ricca come quella di Sandy Denny, ma con una forza che poteva facilmente sostenere il materiale spesso pesante di Richard, e si dimostrò capace di affrontare qualsiasi cosa le venisse presentata, dal country di Withered And Died fino alla parata di personaggi da circo di The Great Valerio, dal sapore brechtiano con una parte finale strumentale che ha il sapore di una composizione di Erik Satie. Thompson se nella canzone più dark del disco, The End Of The Rainbow è più desolatante che mai quando canta: Life seems so rosy in the cradle,\But I'll be a friend I'll tell you what's in store\There's nothing at the end of the rainbow\There's nothing to grow up for anymore, regala una speranza nella title track, cantata da entrambi, con il famoso riff rock'n'roll dei bei tempi e gli ottoni della CWS Manchester Band, all'epoca la più grande brass band del paese, perchè ci si può divertire con poco ogni tanto: Meet me at the station, don't be late\I need to spend some money and it just won't wait\Take me to the dance and hold me tight\I want to see the bright lights tonight.

Come accennato il disco venne quasi del tutto ignorato, tanto che l'anno successivo, nel 1975, Hokey Pokey è un disco decisamente più leggero e scanzonato, e la coppia tra alti e bassi continua a scrivere, a suonare e a fare concerti, riuscendo a garantirsi un certo seguito. Ma è il momento della riscoperta di questo capolavoro che è particolare: fu infatti ristampato appena dopo il loro nuovo capolavoro, Shoot Out The Light (1982), che anche nel titolo chiude un cerchio relazionale, dato che è l'ultimo come marito e moglie; è decisamente il più rock dei loro lavori, e racconta quasi come un film di Bergman la fine della loro storia d'amore, con l'aiuto decisivo in cabina di registrazione di Joe Boyd, grande talent scout e produttore dei Fairport Convention. In esso una canzone di Linda, drammatica nella sua bellezza, Walking On The Wire, dice:

Too many steps to take Too many spells to break Too many nights awake With no one else This grindstone's wearing me And your claws are tearing me Don't use me endlessly It's too long It's too long to myself.

[krispyweiss]

Richard Thompson: A Master at 75

Richard Thompson’s career has been varied enough that he eludes pigeonholes.

The descriptors that can be used are master guitarist, gifted songwriter and, as of today, 75-year-old man - one who has no plans to stop doing what he’s been doing since before he could legally drink.

“I'm not intending to hang up my plectrum anytime soon,” he says in a news release announcing new music.

Born April 3, 1949, Thompson started early, co-founding Fairport Convention as a teenager, going on to a fruitful, decade-long musical partnership with his then-wife, Linda Thompson, before embarking on a solo career that continues May 31 with the release of his 20th LP, Ship to Shore.

His diverse output makes it virtually impossible to be a fan of all of Thompson’s music, yet that music is impeccable enough that it’s just as difficult to not respect it all, as well. And given Robert Plant, Del McCoury, Tom Jones, Los Lobos and others have recorded Thompson’s songs, the opening line of his official bio is proven accurate.

“Richard Thompson’s musical influence cannot be overstated.”

4/3/24

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Richard & Linda Thompson - Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, February 7, 1981

The return of Sour Grapes! Here, we've got a very nice soundboard recording of Richard and Linda Thompson, plus Fairport stalwart Simon Nicol bringing their comedy routine to Manchester. Oh, they play some songs too! Even if the then-brand-new Shoot Out The Lights material (which wouldn't be released for at least another year) played here is as turbulent and tortured as can be, the trio sounds like they're having ... a lot of fun? "If anyone laughs during this one, I'll go BANANAS!!" jokes Linda before a typically devastating "Walking On A Wire."

"It was actually quite a happy time!" Linda revealed in a recent Uncut interview. "That was quite a happy record, because I was pregnant and we had left the commune. We went to [the Manor in] Chipping Norton and did a record with Gerry Rafferty. I'd sometimes go down in the morning and take a sip of Gerry's orange juice, which was full of whisky. Whisky and orange juice — God!"

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Day 3 of trying to listen to rolling stones top 500 albums let's go!

Phil Spector - Back to Mono

I know for sure that I should be more critical of convicted murderer Phil Spector. I know I should be more worried about the fact that he kept Ronnie Bennet locked in his basement for years than whether he made good music. The music though. It's really good. The wall of sound technique is on full display in this compilation. Each song is a perfect little lush ball of sonic pleasure, harmonies and hand claps fill so much space in the sonic landscape that you can just walk around in it all and languish in the teenage angst of it all. The simplicity of it all is so beautiful, I just can't gush enough about how much I love this music.

The Stooges - s/t

The Stooges are probably the most recognizable stepping stone in the road to punk rock. It might be more accurate to say that they are several of the most recognizable stepping stones to punk. Between the crunchy guitars the growled vocals and crude subject matter it can be genuinely surprising that this came out in 1969. The level of disillusionment and alienation expressed here would never be topped by another Stooges record, and was basically unmatched until the grunge era.

Black Flag - Damaged

Raw and uncompromising, Black Flag made a name for themselves by being one of the first hardcore punk acts to achieve any mainstream success. Henry Rollins has one of those voices that makes you think that he is definitely going to hit you and it couples with the immensely teenagery lyricism to create a genuine portrait of youthful unrest. Later outing by black flag were great, but nothing hits like their debut.

John Mayer - Continuum

John Mayer is a living yawn. John Mayer is so forgettable that I keep calling him Jack Johnson in my head. If you are a John Mayer fan no you aren't you are an Ambien fan without a prescription. Fuck whoever put this album on this list.

Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight

I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who wants to hear folk rock whose folk aspect stems from traditional English music rather than American so it brings a smile to my face to see Richard and Linda Thompson make this list. The loose harmonies and floaty atmosphere makes for a delightful experience. There's a quality to the music that almost makes you think it would be possible to bust one of these songs out by a campfire if it weren't for all the layered instrumentation and harmonies.

[mywifeleftme]

139: Richard & Linda Thompson // Shoot Out the Lights

Shoot Out the Lights Richard & Linda Thompson 1982, Hannibal

Richard Thompson has a reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter despite not having much flair as a lyricist, and he’s the sort of guitarist’s guitarist whose solos don’t necessarily jump out at listeners raised on raunchy blues licks and widdly neoclassical runs. Like his vastly wealthier guitar god contemporary Eric Clapton, he has a thin, nasal voice that is only occasionally roused to genuine passion, and many of his finest moments have been as a versatile sideman non pareil on his friends’ records. (There are differences though: for example, Thompson is a practicing Sufi Muslim, while Clapton believes Muslims should be driven into the English Channel.) Despite the relative subtlety of his gifts, and because of it, Thompson is one of the finest musicians to emerge from the English folk revival, and I’ll join the consensus that Shoot Out the Lights is his masterpiece.

The last of his excellent series of albums with first wife Linda Thompson, Shoot Out the Lights was recorded during a period of intense stress. By the late ‘70s, the couple had lost their record deal following a series of commercial failures and an interlude living on a Sufi commune. Admirer Gerry Rafferty fronted (and lost) a significant amount of his own money recording the Thompsons, but his sensibilities clashed with Richard’s and he was unable to interest any labels in the results. Eventually the legendary folk producer Joe Boyd, who’d helped give Richard and his band Fairport Convention their start in the late ‘60s, bailed the duo out and signed them to his own label. For financial reasons, the Thompsons’ second stab at recording these songs had to be banged out in a few days. Recording quickly suited Richard’s predilections, but matters were complicated by the fact that the very pregnant Linda, expecting their third child, was experiencing breathing difficulties that limited her singing, forcing Richard to take on a greater than usual share of the lead vocal duties. (It’s worth comparing Linda’s original lead vocal on “Don’t Renege on Our Love” from the Rafferty sessions to Richard’s from the final LP.)

By the end of the subsequent (reportedly hellish) American tour for Shoot Out the Lights, the Thompsons’ marriage was over. Given the circumstances, it’s hard to read a record with titles like “Don’t Renege on Our Live,” “Man in Need,” and “Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?” as anything other than a loose concept album about a decaying relationship. Although many of these songs predated the worst of their infighting, the album is undoubtedly a more affecting listen with this narrative in mind, and it does seem to capture the wild range of conflicting emotions when love goes bad: the desire to offer your partner some promise of comfort (“Just the Motion”), juxtaposed with the spiteful urge to make them feel terrible (“Back Street Slide”); morbid fascination at how bad things have gotten (“Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?”) versus fatalistic abandon (“Wall of Death”).

Reviews of Shoot Out the Lights have a tendency to paint it as a gloomy listen, but if anything the stress manifests itself musically as a nervy energy that charges the performances. Boyd surrounded the Thompsons with Richard’s old Fairport running mates David Mattacks, Simon Nicol, and Dave Pegg, and even the Watersons on backing vocals. The ease of playing with musicians they knew so well helps the Thompsons return to the form that made their early work together like I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Pour Down Like Silver such vital listens. The call and response vocals and reflective jangle of “Wall of Death” make it feel like the song is playing over a TV series’ final moments, and as far as the Thompsons’ career together went, it was. Brawling and infidelity aside, there are worse ways to go out.

139/365

[swartzmark]

The world's no place when you're on your own

[clivechip]

Under Some Covers

When I posted Thoughts On Thursday some weeks ago, one of the things I mentioned was that I would be bringing back some of my occasional series. One of these was the one in which I played cover versions of songs under variations of the Under The Covers banner. Most of these were covers that I thought you might not know, as they were by artists who weren’t exactly household names, but for today’s…

[kowalskishish]

Yesterday's May Day soundtrack. 

 Had to be British folk didn't it?

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: The Richard Thompson Acoustic Trio - “(I Want To See) The Bright Lights Tonight” (Live)

Chances are, you did not see the Richard Thompson Acoustic Trio in Honolulu.

But you’ll be able to hear it when Live from Honolulu* is released Aug. 26.

“(I Want To See) The Bright Lights Tonight,” originally recorded with then-wife Linda Thompson, is the lead single and finds Richard Thompson in terrific shape on guitar and vocals with equally solid backing from Danny Thompson on upright bass and Michael Jerome on percussion (not drums).

This stripped-down version is sinewy - leisurely loping across its three-minute runtime, leaving the small audience enthused and Sound Bites ready to spend some money.

* There’s no info on when this LP was recorded; but you still probably weren’t there

Grade card: The Richard Thompson Acoustic Trio - “(I Want To See) The Bright Lights Tonight” (Live) - A

8/22/22

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Richard & Linda Thompson - Cherry Hinton Hall Grounds, Cambridge Folk Festival, England, June 26, 1975

A summer show but an autumnal vibe — doom & gloom all the way. I was drawn to this rough-n-ready audience tape because it features a very tasty rarity: that classic Henry the Human Fly heartbreaker "The Poor Ditching Boy" in an electric arrangement and sung by Linda! Hey now. It doesn't disappoint. Richard unleashes a gorgeous solo and Linda effortlessly conjures up the storm and wind that cuts through to your blood. Plenty of other good stuff here, too, including a slightly rocked-up rendition of "The Great Valerio," a rollicking version of Jerry Lee's "It'll Be Me" and a few sweet Morris dances. With a band that includes Fairport Conventioneers Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg plus accordion master John Kirkpatrick, Richard and Linda sound ready to take on the world. But they'd actually drop out of sight for a few years after this tour ...

And hey, for something to read while you listen, check out Liquorice, a rad folk-rock zine from 1975, featuring some important RT info and interviews. Thanks to Queen City Jamz for the heads up!

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[lisamarie-vee]

[jt1674]

[guerrilla-operator]

RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON

[rastronomicals]

2:43 AM EDT March 31, 2024:

Richard & Linda Thompson - "Withered And Died" From the album   I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (April 1974)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm